Dear Residents, Families, and Associates of Byron Park
I hope this letter finds you well as we manage through this difficult time together. As previously noted, I will bold the font of the changes below for your quick review. As we gain new subscribers daily, I will continue to note our comprehensive plan in its entirety for newcomers.
We are thrilled to report that our three associates who had previously tested positive for COVID19 have all recovered. We have ended our daily reporting to the Department of Social Services, Community Care Licensing and Contra Costa County Public Health’s Communicable Disease Program. We continue to have no residents suspected or confirmed to have COVID-19. We are thankful for the support and partnership during this time.
Our highlight here is that Byron Park, Licensing and Public Health are in alignment that there has been no communal spread within Byron Park. We appreciate our team, residents, families, and essential visitors for continuing to follow our guidelines and COVID19 policies.
While we have no operational changes to our community currently, I did want to provide some clarifying language about balcony visits and the resident use of the courtyard.
Our goal is to remain as connected as possible as we weather this storm together, but it is essential that we maintain a safe bubble around Byron Park.
The courtyard is for resident walking use only. We are prohibiting residents from congregating currently. We are looking to re-evaluate this on or before May 3rd,2020 when our Governor provides updated guidance on our Shelter in Place orders. We would also like to remind residents that you are required to wear a mask when exiting your apartment and it must be on properly to be protective, meaning it is covering your mouth and nose.
Since we are not allowing visitors in our courtyard and many of our residents have balcony view apartments, we have designated an apartment on the 1st floor for visits. These visits must be planned with our front desk team. Unplanned visits may not be accommodated as there will be an enhanced sanitization protocol after every use and the apartment is by reservation only. While we highly encourage virtual visits, we also understand the need to see your loved one face to face.
We thank you for your patience, trust, and partnership during this difficult time. Please let us know if you have any comments, questions, or concerns.
The following operations have been modified effective 4/17/20:
Shoe Protocol
- All associates are required to sanitize their shoes with the appropriate approved sanitizer upon entering the community.
- All Essential Visitors visiting the community are required to wear the following:
- Mask, Gloves, Booties
- Essential Visitors & Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
- All visitors are required to wear the appropriate PPE especially while in a resident’s apartment. Failure to do so will result in being asked to leave the community and not to return. We have made all private duty providers and medical professionals aware of our practice upon entry to the community. We are asking our residents to continue to remind them of our practice so we can remain COVID-19 free.
The following operations remain in place:
We have added complimentary daily trash pickup for all apartments in response to the high volume of paper/Styrofoam goods being delivered. Please leave your bagged trash outside of your apartment between 12:45pm and 1:00pm for a team member to pick up. We have ordered and are awaiting shipment of eco-friendly reusable containers for future use.
All residents must wear a mask when leaving their apartments. If you do not have a mask and need to leave your apartment, please call the front desk so we can bring you one. As a reminder, we are asking all residents to continue to comply with the shelter in place orders until May 3rd, 2020. We have several avenues in which we can provide you with essential items. All item pick-ups are complimentary during this time. If you leave the community for any reason you will be required to quarantine in your apartment for the next 14 days.
While we are focused on COVID19 we also recognize it is flu and allergy season. Any resident that has been seen in the hospital or is demonstrating any respiratory illness our team is required to utilize full personal protective equipment as a precaution. While we continue to maintain a balance between safety and dignity during this time, we have made the decision to leave personal protective equipment in a container outside of the resident’s apartment as well as add a sticker to the resident door for quick review. This quick access will allow our team members to better serve our residents in a safe environment.
Elevator Etiquette Change: We are asking for no more than one resident (two residents if a couple that lives together) and one associate in any elevator at one time.
Single point entry- As a reminder we are still and will continue to practice a single point entry system until further notice for all residents, associates, visitors and vendors. It is prohibited to enter the community via any other access point. We have taped markers on the floor outside of the lobby noting 6-foot clearances. We ask all individuals to comply with these markings and social distancing guidelines.
We want to continue to encourage residents to keep up their strength by being active daily. In addition to the virtual programming and complimentary equipment rental, we can also assist any resident with a community walk as requested. In order to comply with social distancing guidelines, we will have a sign up at the front desk for community and courtyard walks. Residents can walk independently as well but we do ask that you sign up with the front desk so we can manage traffic and sanitation of the community. Keep a look out for our upcoming wellness challenge and raffle!
We are still seeing a steady flow of family members attempting to visit for various reasons. Our restriction to essential visitors only is ongoing and no individual exceptions to this restriction will be made at this time. End of life compassionate visits are exempt from this rule. If you are needing to pick up or drop something off, our team can safely complete this task for you. We feel this is in alignment with state and federal guidelines and the primary way to keep our residents and associates safe during this difficult time. As a reminder we have tablets and a team readily available to help set up virtual visits daily.
As we navigate our way through these challenging times, we are committed to continuing to find creative ways to keep our residents engaged and connected with each other and their loved ones. We have tablets and associates available to set up video calls daily.
We have a community account and tablets set up for online ordering at Target, Walmart and Safeway and our drivers can complete curbside pickup, should delivery not be available.
Pharmacies are noted to be a high-risk area and although we are limiting our in person picks up in those locations, we will continue to pick up emergencies medications as needed. In both levels of living we can assist residents with the set-up of online ordering and call in delivery of medications.
We understand how disruptive and isolating our current situation has been. As we continue to take steps to create a healthy bubble around our community and with our restriction of standard visiting practices, we would like to try and maintain our social connection safely. We have healthy screened Byron Park team members that would love to spend one on one time with our residents. Please contact the front desk if you are interested in a visit or call.
Aligned with Federal Guidelines, we are restricting ALL visitors except as follows:
- “Compassionate” visits (only in instances of end-of-life)
- Individuals directly providing essential health services
- These “essential visitors” must be screened prior to gaining entry and wear a face mask and gloves at all times while within the community.
- We have seen a recent influx in inquiries about whether residents can leave the community and visit family. Inquiries have also been made if family can visit the community but practice social distancing.
- We are continuing to restrict all visitors that are not medically essential at this time in an effort to keep our community of residents and associates safe and healthy. Currently, we are not able to make an exception to this precautionary measure. Leaving the community to socialize is in direct violation of our state’s shelter in place orders and is prohibited.
- Due to the lengthy incubation period of COVID-19 your loved one who is coming to visit may not be showing signs of illness but could be a carrier. Due to the nature of our community and how contagious this illness is we are prohibiting all non-essential visitors on property even with social distancing practices.
These visitor restrictions prohibit family, friends, clergy, Salon and other personal services providers, Private Duty aides, entertainers, and all other individuals deemed “non-essential” at this time. We apologize for the impact this may have on your “normal” visitation frequency, and we appreciate your support of our desire to prioritize the health of our residents. Once environmental conditions dictate, our standard practices will be re-established.
The safety and health of our residents is critical, and in addition to these visitor restrictions we have implemented the following additional actions:
Should a need for a mover arise we have two options at this time. Movers (or friends/family) drop off resident’s belongings at the entrance to the community. Community team disinfects these items and community team moves items to resident’s apartment. The secondary option is to utilize our predesignated movers who have been trained by our community nurse on COVID19 and proper personal protective equipment protocol. The movers will wear the proper protective gear for the duration they are in the community.
During this period, we will not permit families to move items into or out of resident apartments.
- Daily monitoring of associate and resident health (for fever & cough). Please take note the CDC recommended threshold for a fever has been lowered to 99.6.
- Due to the closure of the dining room our room service remains complimentary until further notice. No changes have been made to your standard meal packages. If an Independent living resident would like to add a 3rd meal option, please contact Elaine Hall or Ricardo Romero.
- Breakfast menus will be placed in the iron mailbox outside resident apartment doors nightly. All menus will be collected by 5:00am. Due to high call volumes and our strive for excellent service we ask for your cooperation in completing the menu form and place it back in your mailbox no later than 5:00am.
- Lunch and Dinner Entrees will remain as posted on your weekly menu calendar. We will be utilizing disposables and going door to door with a cart of all 3 entrees for your choosing. The left side of the menu has been suspended at this time. We will continue to provide substitute options for food allergies. In addition to the posted menu we will have a selection of premade sandwiches and salads to choose from. We will also have fruit, ice cream bars and pre poured refreshments. Red and White wine will continue to be offered at dinner.
- We will also have a daily refreshment cart go door to door with refreshments prepacked or poured.
- Lunch service delivery starts at 11:30am
- Dinner service delivery starts at 4:30pm
- To be fair we will be alternating the apartments we start at every other day. For example, Wednesday we will start on the South side of the building and on Thursday we will start at the North side of the building.
- We have suspended all in person wellness activities but have increased programming via Channel 998. Please see your wellness calendar for more details.
- Increased sanitizing and cleaning throughout the community (especially in high-traffic and high-touch areas).
- It is mandatory for all associates and essential visitors to wash their hands/utilize hand sanitizer upon entry to the community and complete our entry screening process.
- Transportation is strictly limited to medical appointments. As a note we do not transfer residents to the Emergency Room and in some cases based on your symptoms we will not transfer to Urgent Care. Due to our heightened sanitization protocol we are only allowing one resident in our vehicles at a time.
- We have a drop off station outside the front door (center of roundabout) for family members dropping off supplies in a hurry. Byron Park team members will deliver all packages and will be practicing additional sanitation measures as they deliver. We will have designated times for deliveries and unless it is a critical package such as medication or incontinence/grooming supplies we are unable to deliver packages outside of our set windows. This is due to the high volume of packages, calls and enhanced screening process needs at the front desk. Packages will be delivered twice a day starting at 1:00pm and 4:00pm.
- Despite our enhanced restrictions and recommendations during this time there are still essential day to day operations that need to occur. For this reason, we have dedicated two meeting rooms that will have an enhanced sanitization protocol. The private dining room and private living room located on the 1st floor will not be available for resident use until further notice.
- Communication Avenues for Operational Updates:
- Touch town will have a ribbon for urgent changes and slides for pertinent information.
- Written communication about any changes will be delivered to every resident apartment via the iron mailbox outside their apartment door.
- Emails will be sent to residents and family members in our data base the same day as the written communication is distributed. If you are unsure if we have your email or would like to add someone please contact the front desk at 925-937-1700 or email reception@kiscosl.com. Please note our preferred communication for updates to contact information is email. We will be sending prepopulated typed emergency contact forms in our April statements. We are requiring an updated emergency contact sheet to be completed and returned no later than 5/1/2020.
- We have a robo call system in place and a test call will go out next Tuesday April 7th, 2020 at 11:00am. We have all resident and responsible party phone numbers in our database, if you would like to add an additional number or change the number on file please call the front desk at 925-937-1700 or email reception@kiscosl.com.
- Our website and Facebook will have a banner when a critical update or a change in status is made.
We will continue to monitor the latest news and guidance and will keep you informed of any additional changes. We highly encourage “virtual visits” and are here if you have any questions comments and concerns. Thank you for your continued support and understanding.
Warm Regards,
Jennifer Pastora
Executive Director
Byron Park
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/Immunization/ncov2019.aspx